Crossroads
by Evergreen
Summary: To save herself and fight what she considers a betrayal by those closest to her, OSI agent Jaime Sommers strikes out on her own to find freedom…and herself.


**Crossroads.**

**By Evergreen**

_To save herself and fight what she considers a betrayal by those closest to her, OSI agent Jaime Sommers strikes out on her own to find freedom…and herself._

(Pretty sappy so put on your hip-waders and slog right on in.  P.S. No Chris Wallace involvement. 

Happy reading and please review!)

**Chapter 1**

Jaime Sommers felt so lost and confused.  They actually _told_ her that she couldn't live her own life.  That she _couldn't_ leave, even if she wanted to.  She didn't know them at all.  The people she thought she trusted above all else.  The ones who saved her life and took it at the same time.  She thought it was odd that she felt no anger anymore, her thoughts were well-ordered and calm, even as she ran through the same thought processes that she had a million times before.  She squashed in a few more t-shirts into her backpack.  They really couldn't_ stop_ her, Oscar surely knew that.  Rudy knew it, too, as they tried to break it to her as gently as possible that they couldn't let her leave.  She had already told Max goodbye in her own way and made sure that he was with Rudy for the day.  Rudy was the only one who absolutely understood what Max could do and how to take care of him.  To make sure that they never gave up on him again.  This was the day that she left her life behind and had to try and start another_._  Steve had made no more overtures and she was positive that he would have been content with their friendship for the rest of his life.   Steve was out on a mission in South America and wasn't scheduled to return for several weeks.  She had to leave now.  She didn't want to be a puppet of the OSI for the rest of her life.  She already had enough reminders that she wasn't normal.  She squeezed her right hand closed and opened it again slowly.  It wasn't real.  It wasn't part of her.  The part of her that was alive.  The OSI exploited her _abilities_ and used her mercilessly.  She _had_ to run.  Her choices were all gone.  

She tied her long blonde hair up in a tight bun and slipped on her sunglasses and a hat.  She slung the backpack on her shoulders and plodded down the stairs.  She started to look back at the loft and she stopped herself.  _You can't go back.  The doors are all closed now.  _She thought that Rudy actually suspected that she was going to run.  He had been very quiet around her lately, as if he half-expected her not to be there when he looked up from his precious notebooks.  She propped up the note to Steve's parents and her benefactors on the small table by her door.  In it, she thanked them for everything that they had done for her and asked them to send Steve her love. He knew how to live with the changes and work for OSI.  He wanted to repay them for saving his life.  She was very grateful, too.  But they never asked her if that was what she wanted.  She took a deep breath and walked out into the early morning sunlight.

She had sold her hatchback yesterday morning and bought a small red foreign car that she had left at a local supermarket parking lot.   She had stowed pre-packaged foods and supplies into the trunk and under the front passenger seat that morning.  She glanced around quickly and then focused her attention closer to listening.  Her bionic ear picked up sounds from all around her in a cacophony, but she knew what she was listening for.  Anything out of the ordinary, anything suspicious, any indication that they were on to her.  Satisfied for now, she pulled the keys out of her worn jeans pocket and opened the door. She looked around the parking lot one more time before she slid into the driver's seat.

Soon it would all be over.  She prayed that they wouldn't be able to find her.  Steve's parents shouldn't find the note until they returned from antiquing later that evening.  Oscar and Rudy…she swallowed, trying to fight the rising emotions that threatened to take away her nerve.  The thought of those two men who cared and whom she cared so much about scared her.  Her freedom was everything.  They knew that.  She knew they would be devastated by her act of mutiny.  She didn't think they'd be surprised though.  She hoped that they wouldn't send Steve after her.  She couldn't refuse him to his face.  _God, she would miss him_.  She wanted so badly to remember what it was like between them before…everything.    

Her heart began racing as she tried to think about what she had to do next.  She had plotted a route out of Ojai, out of California, and eventually into Washington state and then Canada.  She would have to cross the border illegally, they would be expecting her at all crossing points.  She did have some connections, she would have to establish an alternate identity…_Enough_.  Details that she would worry about when the time came.  She had a lot of driving to do before that.  She had studied the map for ways that didn't involve major highways and thoroughfares.  She would be tracked.  She would have to trade this car somewhere soon, to keep them for tracing her whereabouts so quickly.     She never felt so alone in her whole life.

She popped some trail mix into her mouth as she squinted into the setting sun.  She pulled off the road at a rest stop to try and get her bearings.  She sat straighter as the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle.  _Got to get out, now!_  She reached next to her and mashed some food packets and two bottles of water into her backpack.  She swiveled again and pushed the door of the car off its hinges with both her feet.  It flung far into the brush.  She didn't care about that.  If they were on to her, then it wouldn't matter now if she left a trail for them to follow.  She jumped out of the car and began running at top speed into the cover of the rough forest.  She must have covered at least 10 miles before she realized that it was almost completely dark now.  She knew to trust her instincts.  If she were being followed, it was good that she did.  Now, as she leaned up against a tree, she wasn't so sure.  She reached to grab a bottle of water from her bag, but then decided that she should conserve her resources until she knew where she could get more.  She stretched her sensitive hearing as far as it would go, but heard nothing except wildlife and wind blowing the foliage softly.  She blew out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding.  

What the hell was she doing?  She had prepared for this, but she didn't think they find her so fast.  She pulled a compass out of her bag and struggled to find a direction so she could read the map.  It was getting increasing darker and much harder to see.  She almost wished for Steve so he could read the map.  Maybe then she wouldn't feel so desperate and alone.  The warm air brushed past her as she shook her hair out from under the baseball cap.  _Ahh, that felt better_.    She tucked the hat into her bag and started walking towards what she hoped was another road.  

After she stubbed her toe for what seemed like the millionth time, she decided to stop and rest.  She glanced up at the stars and was glad that the night was clear.  All she needed was to get soaked in a summer rainstorm.  She opened a bottle of water and took a few swallows.  She sat down with her back to a large oak tree and closed her eyes.  "God, I'm tired," she thought as her eyes fluttered closed.    

**Chapter 2**

"What do mean she's _gone_?"  Oscar Goldman slammed his fists into his desk as he glared into the worried face of Dr. Rudy Wells.  His normally distinguished features were now screwed up into rage.

"I just got a call from Steve.  Jim and Helen called him after they realized that they hadn't seen her all day.  They went to check on her and found a note explaining that she was leaving.  They're all really worried."  Rudy clenched his notebook a little tighter against his white coat, bracing himself for the tirade that was sure to follow.  _What if something happened to her?_  He'd never forgive himself.  

"Get Austin back here right now!  We have to find her!  What the hell does she think she's doing?  What if something happens to her?  Her bionics?"  He stood up and walked over to the window.  

"Oscar, you have to calm down.  She's been depressed for a couple months now.  I'm sure you've noticed.  She's been desperate to find a way to help us without having to sacrifice her freedom, sacrifice herself.  We told her she couldn't have out, so she took an out.  She's on the run.  From us."  He swallowed noisily and paused.  "We should have found another way."

"Don't you think I know that?  That I haven't been up nights trying to figure out a way to help her?  That it doesn't kill me to see the life draining out of her every minute?"  Oscar rubbed his forehead, hoping an idea of what to do next would come to him.  

"We've already notified law enforcement, airports, bus depots, car rental agencies to be on the lookout for her.  As you know, she's not going to be easy to find and even harder to bring back.  We trained her to be the best."  Rudy sighed.  

"Thanks, Rudy.  I'm sorry to be so hard on you.  We're all hurting here.   Let me know when Steve gets in, okay?"  The hard edge in his voice disappeared.  He looked out the window.  

Rudy took that as a dismissal.  "Sure, Oscar."  Rudy walked slowly out of Oscar's office and down to his lab.  He sat down at his desk and tried to remember Jaime laughing, working on her bionics because she _wanted to_, having a good time.  He picked up his telephone.  "Patch me through to Colonel Steve Austin."

            After a five-minute delay to connect to the plane, "Austin, here."

            "Steve, it's Rudy."

            "Did you find her?  Is she okay?"  The concern in Steve's voice transmitted across the lines although he was shouting over the engines in the army plane they were transporting him in. 

            "They haven't found her yet.  I'm expecting a briefing in a few minutes.  Steve, do you have any idea where she would go?  To feel safe?  We need somewhere to start from."

            "She always liked to be near the mountains.  She said that it made her feel more connected to the earth somehow.  Do you think she may have gone out of state?"  Steve yelled into the receiver.  God, he was so far away and useless.  He needed to find her.

            "Not enough time, yet.  Thanks, Steve.  I'll let the search teams know and we will find her.  I'll keep you posted."

            "Thanks, Rudy.  Keep her safe."  Steve gave the receiver back to the Army copilot and cursed himself.  Why didn't he notice that she was so miserable?  He could have tried to convince her to give it a little longer until they could work something out.  He was scared of pushing her too hard.  Of pushing her right out of his life.  He almost lost her once, he wouldn't do it again.  He hadn't forgotten their relationship, _their engagement_, before the accident, before the bionics, before he almost lost her.  He still loved her as deeply as he did then.    He sat back into his harness and tried to think in the din of the cargo bay.  

**Chapter 3**

She woke up with a wicked headache and a huge crick in her neck.  Did she fall asleep at the kitchen table again?  She opened her eyes and took a second to remember where she was.  Sunlight filtered through the canopies of the trees and she wondered where she was exactly.  She attempted to stand on her wobbly legs and shook the remnants of the fog in her head away.  She pulled out her map and began to try and figure out her location in earnest.  She had the strongest urge to start running.  In any direction.  She folded up the map and decided to try and walk towards the mountains in the distance.  There may be civilization that way.  Somewhere where she could wash up and get a decent meal.  So much for the hiking and roughing it.  She already wanted a shower and a home-cooked meal.    Maybe this wasn't such a hot idea after all.  She decided that a light jog would help lift her spirits.  She swished some water around her mouth, spit it onto the ground, and pulled her backpack on again.   

            She used to enjoy running so much.  She had run to keep in shape for tennis and then kept it up even after the accident to help her stay in tune with her new body.  Rudy said it was good for her.  It wasn't like she got very tired anymore with her new legs.  They had their own nuclear power source that was supposed to last longer then she did.  A flash of panic burned into her stomach_.  _What would she do if anything happened to the bionics?  She had thought of that possibility, but realized that if she wanted out, she had to be totally out.  No contact with Rudy, although he would probably still help her if she asked him.  But if she ever rejected again… she was never so scared in her life.  When she had the parachuting accident, she really didn't know what was happening.  She didn't have time to be scared.  But after she got sick, she _knew_ what was going to happen.  She was going to die…and die a freak.  Hell, she did die.  Rudy managed to save her somehow, but that absolute terror never left her.  She never wanted to be that helpless and vulnerable again.  Her own body, well, not her own, but something that became part of her, was acting against her.  And she couldn't do anything about it.  Rudy told her that her dog Max, the first one to receive bionics, went through rejection too.   It was almost too much for her to bear.  As great as the bionics were and all the things she could do, she hoped that they never did this to anyone else ever again.  She should have died when her parachute ripped apart.  But Steve couldn't face it and had them make her into…something less than human.  Part robot.  A lot of times she didn't even think about it, she just used her new limbs like she would've used her own.  Other times, they seemed like dead weights, making her into some kind of walking, talking machine.  A _cyborg_.  It sounded so scary and completely foreign, like out of one of those cheesy sci-fi movies.  But she didn't see Steve that way, even though he was bionic like her.  He seemed like, well, just Steve.  She didn't really remember him the way he was before his operation.  The bionics seemed to be a well-integrated part of him.  They just were.  

Everything before the accident was just a blur, pieces that didn't really relate to each other.  She tried hard to remember what it was like before, but she couldn't quite get at it.  Her bionics were not part of her, they were just poor seconds to make up for ones she lost.   She stopped running.  She raised up her right arm and looked really closely at it.    It looked normal enough, she supposed.  She held up her other arm and tried to compare them.  Rudy had them identical, right down to the light hairs that covered her forearms.  She knew it was different.  Her legs, too.  They looked good and worked even better.  She could run faster and jump higher than anyone ever thought possible.  She could run so fast that she could pass cars and trucks without so much as breaking a sweat.  Hear the wings of a dragonfly beating.  Leap tall buildings in a single bound…all that jazz.  It just seemed so stupid when she thought about it.   Why would they waste this _hardware_ on a former tennis pro and schoolteacher?    Steve made sense as a candidate.  Air force pilot, astronaut, great at a lot of things.   Jaime Sommers did not make sense.   A tear escaped and slid down her cheek.  She swiped it away.   

With that, she decided not to think for a while and just run.  Clearing her mind, she set her sights on the closest mountain and vowed to reach it by sundown.  

**Chapter 4**

            Colonel Steve Austin, US Air Force, landed at Ft. Pointe Bluff near Los Angeles, California at 4:00 pm Pacific time.    Rudy and Oscar were waiting in the hanger to meet him.

            "Any news?"  Steve looked at Oscar expectedly.  He had been in flight for over 10 hours, with a five-hour layover in Mexico for maintenance.  He was so mad at the delay he had considered renting a car and driving up to LA.  That would've taken him even longer to get back.  He was sure that they would have had some news by now. 

            "They found her car at a used car lot in Ojai.  The dealer sold her another small car, a red Datsun.  The authorities found it on Route 5, abandoned at the side of the road in the Six Rivers National Forest almost at the border of Oregon.  The driver side door was completely blown out.  They found the car door about a hundred yards away.  It had to be her. We had some trouble explaining that one to the park rangers.  We have a flight scheduled to Eureka, just south of the park.  We can drive in from there.  C'mon."  Oscar gestured the two to follow him towards a small plane warming up on the tarmac.  "Sorry, Steve.  We'll be in flight for a few more hours."

            "Whatever it takes to get Jaime back."  Steve hefted his duffle back onto his shoulder and followed his boss and the doctor onto the plane.  

            It was dark when they landed.  Steve hadn't wanted to fall asleep in case he could see something or think of something that would help, but exhaustion overtook him only a half and hour into the flight.  

            Oscar's eyebrows were knitted together in frustration and Rudy rubbed his hands together unconsciously.  They strode towards the Jeep that was waiting for them when they landed at the small local airstrip.  An Army lieutenant met them, saluted smartly and handed Oscar a yellow envelope.

            "Mr. Goldman, Dr. Wells, Col. Austin, sirs.  This packet contains satellite pictures of the area where the car was found, a map of probable locations, and a contact list of law enforcement agencies at your disposal.   A satellite phone is in the car and some supplies.  Hiking gear is the in the back.  Good luck, sirs."  He saluted and stepped back.

            Steve saluted back and hefted his duffel bag back onto his shoulder.  "Gentlemen, I believe our coach is this way."    The three men climbed into the Jeep and started towards the location on the map where Jaime was supposed to be.  Steve only hoped that they found her and that she was okay.  They could work out the other stuff later.

**Chapter 5**

Around sunset**, **Jaime realized that the mountains were a lot farther than she originally thought.  Of course, she didn't have the amazing depth perception that Steve had, but she thought it would be all right. She had stopped sometime during midday to eat and rest, but had lost track of time.  What did time matter?  She had secretly hoped that she would run herself into such exhaustion that she wouldn't have to think about anything anymore.  She smashed her fist into the nearest tree and accidentally pushed it over.  It hit the ground with such a large crash that she scared herself.  _Holy shit_.  How was she ever going to make peace with herself?   She started to walk towards the mountains again in silence.  

            She remembered her last birthday when Oscar had planned a surprise party for her at a restaurant near her house.  Oscar, Steve, Callahan, Steve's parents, Rudy, and many others from the OSI had gathered to help her celebrate.  She had a really great time and it was gratifying to know that those people cared about her.  It had been Steve's job to bluff her into coming, but she could tell something was up by the Steve's pounding heart and rapid breathing on the drive over to the restaurant.  She smiled at that.  He was so sure that she had no idea that something was going on.  She had played along.  No sense in ruining their fun.  Whenever she thought of Steve, she got this prickling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She often wondered if that happened to her before the accident.  Her friends were good people and she hated the thought of hurting them, but other people in the government had decided that she was national property or something and couldn't be allowed to live her own life.  She had talked to Steve about it, as he would be the only other one on the Earth who would truly understand her perspective.  But he didn't, not really.  He tried to be sympathetic, but his undertones definitely did not speak of agreement with her. His gratitude and sense of duty was so ingrained that he couldn't imagine leaving the OSI.  He couldn't imagine that she would want to.  That was really when she made her decision to leave, by any means necessary.  She knew that Oscar and Rudy, with all of their best intentions, would try and convince her to stay.  _And they did_.  

            When she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her, she decided to try and rest for the night.  She wished she had thought to bring a tent or something, but she hadn't thought she have to camp out.  She finished off another packet of trail mix and the rest of the first bottle of water.  She had better find some supplies in the next day or so.    She wished Steve and Max were here to keep her company.  She didn't think she'd be so lonely so fast.  

**Chapter 6**

            Steve, Oscar, and Rudy stopped at the last hotel at the edge of the national forest to stay the night.  It was already late and they wanted to get an early start the next day.  Steve stowed all of their supplies as Oscar checked into the three rooms.  Rudy ordered room service to be delivered immediately.  Steve looked as if he was about to drop.  

            "Steve, get some rest.  I'm having your dinner sent up right now.  Doctor's orders."  Rudy gently patted him on the shoulder as he pushed him the direction of his room.  

            "Yes, Doctor.  See you in the morning.  6 AM in the lobby."

            Oscar and Rudy nodded as they walked down the hallway towards their own rooms.  

            Steve threw his bag onto the second double bed and lay down on the one closest to him.  He was asleep before he even took his shoes off.    He didn't even hear the knock of the room service attendant a half and hour later.  

            He dreamed of Jaime.  Their life together after he found her again, like when they were close in high school.  He would watch her play tennis and marvel at her talent.  She would win a match and wave to him in the stands.  His heart always fluttered a little bit at the attention.  They would drive down the coast and talk for hours about everything and nothing.  About what she wanted to do when she retired from tennis, his career plans for the Air Force, kids, a house, a dog.  Jaime always loved kids, wanted kids.  She wanted to be a teacher.  She already had her bachelor's degree in education, but still had to get certified.  Her smile, the way her hair bounced when she walked, her grace when she played tennis, or went running, or made love.  His heart ached at the thought of never seeing her again.  Never making her laugh again.  Never being able to love her again.  He never stopped blaming himself for the parachuting accident that almost took her life.  He had checked her chute, he convinced her to go, that it would be fun.  He convinced Oscar and Rudy to make Jaime like him.  _Bionic_.  It sounded so simple then.  A desperate answer to a desperate situation.   It would save her life.  And his too because he could never live without her.  _Her amnesia was his punishment_.  She didn't remember him or their life together after she came back from the rejection.  He had been so incredibly relieved that she had even lived.  He was so sure that after some time had passed, it would all come back to her.  Instead, she had moved on with her life.  She got her teaching certificate and began teaching at the Ventura Air Force base near her home in Ojai.  She lived in a loft that his parents had.  They loved her dearly and had taken care of her when her parents died.  She felt comfortable with them.  He was jealous of their relationship with her.  So easy, unforced.    

            It seemed only moments later that the phone was ringing.

            "Mr. Austin, this is the front desk.  It is 6:00 AM."  He hung up the phone and shuffled off to the bathroom for a much-needed shower.  The fog in his brain did not seem to want to clear up, even after keeping his head under the shower for a good ten minutes.  

            The three men met in the lobby a half an hour later and decided to eat breakfast at the diner next door and devise their battle plan.  

            "….start where her car was found and proceed in whatever direction Steve may be able to discern.  Steve?"  Rudy had started the planning, but stopped as he noticed that Steve didn't appear to be paying attention.  "Are you okay?"

            "Yeah, yeah.  Sorry, I'm just really worried.  What were you saying?"  Steve absently swirled the last remaining drops of coffee in the bottom of his cup.

            "Just that I think we'll have to figure out what direction she may have taken when we get there.  The park rangers couldn't find any trace of her.  Hopefully, you can."  He raised his cup of coffee to his lips and took a slow swallow.  

            "Let's get going."  Oscar stood up, threw some bills on the table and strode out of the diner.  Steve and Rudy followed, both tied up with thoughts of Jaime.

**Chapter 7**

            Jaime woke up with a scratchy throat and stiff joints.  She wondered idly what the long-term effects of exposure would have on her bionics.  Probably would last longer than her real body.  She ran a comb through her knotty hair and attempted to tie it back into a tight braid.  She was just about to zipper her backpack back up after grabbing some food, when she thought she heard something.  She stopped and concentrated.  _There!_  The sound of rushing water.  Probably not very close, but something she could follow out of here.  She wasn't getting anywhere by hanging out in the forest forever.    She hiked towards the sound through fairly dense foliage.  Insects were becoming more and more of a problem as the heat of the day developed.  She pushed some branches from her path and finally glimpsed what she had heard several hours before, the rushing river.  She flashed on a rafting trip she and Steve had gone on, Steve seemed so very young and it seemed a million years ago.  Laughing, struggling against the current, splashing Steve with her oar, and inhaling the beauty around her.  As quickly as it came, it was gone.   She was sure that it was an early memory from before the bionics.  Or it just could be her overactive imagination struggling to make contact with someone.  She dismissed it and walked to the riverbank.  It was only slightly muddy, evidence of the dry spell they've been experiencing.  She squatted down and dipped her hand into the water.  She rubbed the cool water on the back of her neck and sighed.  _Which way to go?  Follow the river up or down?_  Rivers usually run away from mountains and that was the opposite of where she was headed.  She decided to walk against the river's current.  There seemed to be a natural path along the bank so she followed it, stopping every so often to rest.  She had almost forgotten why she had started this journey in the first place.  Maybe she was being too hasty.  Maybe Oscar and Rudy would listen to her.  Maybe all she had needed was to get away by herself for a while and think.  She wondered what all of them were doing at that moment.  They were all probably worried and starting search parties and overreacting.  She hoped that at least they wouldn't find her for a little while.  She stopped for a second to think about how she had made that change of heart. _Now she wanted them to find her, just not yet? _Well, she had a really stupid way of doing this because now she was practically out of supplies and she didn't really have any idea of where she was.  So, with no other plan in mind, she continued to follow the river towards the mountains.  

**Chapter 8**

            Steve shook his head as he looked at the driver's side of the car where the door used to be.  Rudy stood in the brush where the rangers had found the door.  Steve saw all the supplies she had left I the car.  Obviously, she had not meant to stop here, she must have panicked and ran off.  The rangers had searched all the roads radiating from this site and no one had seen her.  They had to assume that she had gone into the park.  Oscar was in their car, gesturing wildly as he spoke into the satellite phone.  Steve didn't have to have a bionic eye to see that he was very upset.  

            Five minutes later, Oscar slammed the phone back into its pack and climbed out of the Jeep.  "Well, gentlemen, that was the Vice President.  If we don't find Jamie soon, they are going to declare her a fugitive and turn her search over to the Secret Service.  We do not want that to happen.  Steve, anything to point us in the right direction?"  Oscar's scrunched forehead gave away his level of frustration even when his voice had softened.     

            Steve scanned the edge of the brush with his special sight.  He picked up some broken branches and trampled grass about twenty feet from the car.  "Did the rangers go into the brush to try and look for her?"

            "They were specifically told to only look for her on established roadways and trails, so I don't think so.  Find something?"  Rudy stepped up to the edge of the road.  

            "I think so.  Oscar, Rudy, I think that it may be easier if I go alone.  I can cover a lot more ground that way."

            "Steve..."  Oscar stopped what he was going to say and reconsidered.  "You're right.  If she's as scared as it looks like she was when she abandoned the car, I'm sure she's not strolling through the brush.  She's had almost a two-day headstart on us.  Take the sat phone and GPS and call us at the hotel.  You have only 24 hours.  That's all I could get.  Good luck." He handed over the equipment to Steve.

            "Steve, call me if anything goes wrong.  We'll find you with the beacon on the GPS device.  You'll find her."  Rudy smiled wanly and followed Oscar back to the Jeep.  "We'll rendezvous here in 24 hours.  Call if you need an earlier pickup.  We'll be here when you get back.  Remember, if you can't find her in the next day, we'll have to notify the Secret Service.  If they find her, things will be a whole lot worse for her."  Rudy patted Steve on the shoulder and climbed into the Jeep.  

            "Oh, Jaime what the hell were you thinking?"  Steve said aloud as he climbed into the brush and attempted to follow her trail.   He picked up speed and ran as fast he as could for as long as he could.  It was already getting dark as he thought that the hours were just dribbling away.  He needed to find her.  

            He remembered what he had told Rudy about where Jaime might go of she felt she had to get away.  To the mountains.  He looked above tree line and admired the strong line of mountains that cut through the park.  That's where he would start.  Maybe he could get a better view or more land if he were up higher.  Dodging trees, brush, and other assorted obstacles, he made his way towards the mountains.  

**Chapter 9**

            Jamie had decided to start a fire even though she was pretty sure that it was prohibited in the park.  But she had made a fire pit lined with large stones she had pulled out of the riverbed.  She had even made kindling and neat stacks of firewood out of a fallen tree.  She pulled a matchbox out of her bag and lit the fire.  Soon, she rubbed her hands together in front of the warm licks of flame that danced around the fire pit.  She was glad to get warm, she had slipped into the river when she had stepped onto a particularly mossy section of the bank and managed to bang her left leg up pretty badly.  It hurt, but luckily she hadn't broken anything or damaged her other leg.  She draped her wet shirt and shorts onto nearby tree branches, hoping they would dry by morning.  She pulled out some clean, although slightly damp, clothes from her bag.  

            As the fire burned down, her eyes fluttered closed and she began to dream.  Panic flooded through her as she plummeted to earth.  Something was wrong with her parachute!  All of a sudden she was in a hospital.  She sat up, but she had no legs or arms!  They hadn't done the operation to give her bionics and she was a freak!  She couldn't move or speak from the shock.  Steve walked in and smiled.  "How're you doing?  I'm so sorry to hear about your…_problem_.  I hope you get better.  Bye."  He then strode out of the room.  Jamie could do nothing to stop him.   "Nooooo!"  she yelled but no one was there to hear it.  

            She woke up covered in a sheen of sweat.    She had to go back.  They had saved her life and helped to still be able to walk and do things.  She could have been almost like a quadraplegic without Steve, Oscar, and Rudy's intervention.  They could have said no, but Steve had convinced them.  And she had offered to help them anytime they needed someone with her abilities.  She would go back and make them understand that she was forever grateful, but needed some freedom back.  She would make them understand.  She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.  _Now just where in the hell was she?_

**Chapter  10**

            Steve had finally tracked her to the edge of a riverbank.  He saw that her footsteps nicely then follow the edge of the river towards the mountains.  He sighed in relief.  He almost had her back.  He opened his canteen to take a drink of water and almost dropped it in shock.  Jamie was walking towards him with a smile on her face!

            He started running towards her and wrapped his arms tightly around her when he got to her.  "Steve, I don't have bionic ribs, be careful!"  She had laughed that lovely laugh of hers.  

            "Are you okay?  They were about to send the cavalry after you, you know."  Steve continued to look at her face.  He ran his hand down the side of her face, as if to confirm that she actually was in front of him.  

            "I'm fine.  Just confused.  I needed to be alone for awhile, sort things out."  She took the canteen out of his hand and drank greedily.  "Do you have anything to eat?  I'm sick to death of trail mix."

            "Sure, it's in the bag.  Let me call Oscar and let him know you're okay.  We still need to hike out of here."  He stopped again and touched her hair.  "I'm glad you're okay.  I missed you."

            "I missed you, too.  I couldn't really envision the rest of my life without you."  She hugged him again and smiled.  "Now where did you say the grub was?"

**Chapter 11**

            "Jamie, now don't ever do that again.  I know it seemed like we weren't listening to you, but we were trying to come up with a workable solution."  Oscar sat back in his office chair, back in his suit and tie and far away from the woods of California.  The wilds of Washington, DC were another matter all together.  

            "I'm sorry for causing all of you so much trouble. I was being selfish.  I think it took realizing what I would have been living through without all of you to make me appreciate what _I do_ have."  Jaime sat back in her chair.  Rudy sat on the couch, chewing on the end of his pen.  Steve paced around the rug behind Jaime, like he was guarding her.  

            "Just know that we appreciate you and realize that you need to have your own life.  Compromise will be the name of the game."

            "Which just happens to be your strong suit."  Jaime laughed and looked up at Steve.  "Well, I will leave it in your capable hands, Oscar.  Steve, I believe we have a lunch date."  She stood up and grabbed her purse from the floor.  She linked arms with the smiling Colonel and walked out of Oscar's office.  

            Oscar and Rudy looked at each other and sighed.  

"She's back."  

THE END.  

Thanks for reading the whole thing.  I appreciate any feedback you may have.  

Cheers to the SMDM and TBW.  Bye for now.


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